Sports Technology & Communications News from Around the World

Sports Broadcasting Technology

ESPN Developer Center Launches, APIs Accessible

March 06, 2012

(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)

ESPN (News - Alert) is now offering a Developer Center which lets software developers use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) related to the network’s sports content. ESPN lets the APIs provide some of the network’s content and data for products and services.

For example, ESPN’s Headlines API is available via the Developer Center. It connects apps to daily news, columns and analysis on different sports, teams and athletes. Also, a Research Notes API is being offered to ESPN partners, which includes trivia, facts and history.

Foursquare, Pulse (News - Alert) and Flipboard have already started to use ESPN APIs. foursquare provides content to sports fans while they are in stadiums during events and games so that they can find out about teams and players who are playing. In addition, Pulse uses the ESPN API to provide late-breaking sports news to fans. And Flipboard employs the ESPN Headlines API. Users can see ESPN columns, sports news, and share content with friends on social media sites such as Facebook (News - Alert) and Twitter. Flipboard provides such features as “enhanced story summaries and photos,” according to the Developer Center. Other APIs are limited to a beta version and will be offered to the public later.

“The end result is that you can create any experience with any device with the information we give you,” Chris Jason, director of ESPN’s API program, told Mashable. In addition, many upgrades are being developed internally by ESPN, according to Mashable.

In other recent news about ESPN, Clear Channel (News - Alert) Media, Entertainment Chicago and ESPN Deportes Radio have launched 97.5 ESPN Deportes, a Spanish language sports radio station in Chicago, according to an ESPN press release. 97.5 ESPN Deportes is the first commercial FM radio station in Chicago offering only Spanish language sports coverage.

In other recent news about ESPN, the network recently fired an employee who allowed a headline about New York Knicks basketball player Jeremy Lin to appear – even though it was considered widely offensive because of a racial slur, according to a report appearing on TMCnet.